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Did the Table Come Down?
قَالَ ٱللَّهُ إِنِّى مُنَزِّلُهَا عَلَيْكُمْ ۖ فَمَن يَكْفُرْ بَعْدُ مِنكُمْ فَإِنِّىٓ أُعَذِّبُهُۥ عَذَابًا لَّآ أُعَذِّبُهُۥٓ أَحَدًا مِّنَ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ
“God said, ‘I will indeed send it down to you. But should any of you disbelieve after this, I will indeed punish him with a punishment such as I do not punish anyone in all creation.’” (5:115)
The question
Did the table the disciples asked for actually come down, and what can be known about it?
Views answered: those who deny the descent · Fakhr al-Rāzī and Tafsīr al-Manār · al-Qurṭubī · a reading reported in al-Tibyān
Jawādī Āmulī’s argument
For Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī, I will indeed send it down to you is God’s explicit and unconditional promise, so the denial that the table came down cannot be accepted; the threat to those who disbelieve after it is a separate matter. The Gospels’ silence proves nothing, since they lack reliable transmission. The verse establishes the descent in general, not its details: the wonders in al-Qurṭubī’s narration from Salmān are possible but need reliable proof. And “all creation” in the threat is unrestricted, not limited to the people of that time.
Views compared
The views are given as al-Tasnim reports them, with the works its notes cite. Each point opens al-Tasnim at that place.
It never came down Read →
Those who deny the descent
Otherwise its anniversary would have been a festival until the Day of Resurrection; and the threat attached made the disciples withdraw their request.Jawādī Āmulī
Not acceptable against the explicit promise I will indeed send it down, which is absolute; the threat follows disbelief in the table and is separate. Fakhr al-Rāzī answered two of their arguments, and al-Manār’s long critique of him adds nothing.The silence of the Gospels Read →
Christians today
The Gospels do not relate the event in detail.Jawādī Āmulī
Christians’ acceptance or rejection proves nothing either way: their Gospels lack reliable transmission, so their silence is no evidence that it did not come down.What was on the table Read →
al-Qurṭubī, from Salmān al-Fārisī
A long narration describes the table, its food and its blessings, with many wonders.Jawādī Āmulī
None of it is impossible, but proving all those details with an unverified chain is difficult; the verse establishes the descent in general, not in detail.“All creation” in the threat Read →
A reading reported in al-Tibyān
“All creation” means the people of the time the table came down.Jawādī Āmulī
There is no indication to restrict it, so it is unrestricted. Likewise in 3:42, Mary was chosen “above the world’s women” for becoming a mother without a husband, not over every woman in every respect.Reading guide
Each step opens al-Tasnim at that point.